Interesting report, Dave.

More CGs?!?!

I wonder about the age of the building. Sounds hewn and scribed.
Is it gable entry?
And the crossties... do they sit atop the wall posts, or are they tenoned into the posts instead?

How far are the girts dropped from the top of the posts?

I second Ken's comments about the flying plate.

Eager for photos.

I will try to get photos after work tomorrow.

I have had several different discussions about what is a summer beam. Let's call them tie beams. They span the width of the barn, from eave to eave, and make up the central bay. The doors are in the middle of each eave wall.

The passing braces go from the wall post up to the upper tie beam, and are lapped over the lower "tie beam".

The connecting girts are in the same location as a long top plate, but are interupted by post and tie beam connection. I don't have a clear undertanding of this joinery, could be an English tying joint. I'll post more tomorrow.

Frame is hewn, possible scribed. I did see one empty mortise with three holes that had been drilled with a screw piloted auger bit, but these may have been newer. I dont know when screw auger bits came into use.

Dave

Screw tip auger bits, 1797, and turned by hand...T-auger. Correct me if it's wrong. Tim

Hi Dave,

Anything with passing braces is of more than just "passing interest". Please consult Richard Babcock's book - "Barns of Roots America" re this feature. Richard speculated on very early dates (1500's) re this feature.

It sounds to me that you used the term "summer beam" instead of tie beam and connecting girt instead of interrupted wall plate.

We await your digi pics with much anticipation.

Regards

Ken Hume

Ken, you are right, I am sure. I didn't have much time to see the barn the other night ,and it was dark. Interupted plates sounds better. It is an interesting frame however. Apparently Richard Babcock thought so too, he tried persistantly to buy it.

My DanG camera batteries didn't charge properly, so I didn't get many pics.

Here is a shot that shows both of the bents that make up the center bay. It isn't as much of a close up as I'd like, but shows both sides of the passing braces.



Here is a closeup of the tie to post joint. There is a through mortise for the inerupted plates to attach.



There is one marriage mark for each bent. This bent uses a circle with a line



This one a semi-circle with line. I am guessing there would be marks under the siding as well?




Now, for another interesting detail. The bent on one side of the center bay has a center post. The bent on the other side, does not. The lower tie beam has been cut away, and supported by forged wrought iron. There is no mortise for a post either. You can see the post in the opposite bent. Strange. There is a hay hook, but it clears all of the tie beams easily, and would not have interferred with any of the original frame.




Dave

Hi Dave,

This barn is more than just a little interesting. It deserves a full recording survey to help determine its pedigree. I can see several features that suggest antiquity and European roots.

More please.

Regards

Ken Hume

Nice pics Dave, and interesting details.

I was looking forward to seeing them.

It appears that barn is not much like the connected girt barns we've been seeing here in Maine. It is as Ken suspected: an inturrpted plate barn. But even still it's unusual. I'm guessing there's very little overhang on the eaves of that barn. Ours have canted crossties to catch flying plates and/or purlins that make a decent soffit area. But the flying stuff doesn't connect the building per se. It's the girts, which are pretty beefy.

Another thing I noticed is the plates in that barn meet at the top of the post, below the crosstie. In the CGs here the "plates" are tight to the roof deck because they're really just nailers for vertical roof sheathing.






This is what we've been finding up here:






As you can see, the dropped girt is the principal bent connector. And obviously NO PLATES. There are flying purlins outside the wall sheathing on this particular one.

Do you suppose that barn you have there was raised in "bents?" Having the inturrpted plate suggests it was, so in that way our two types are similar I suppose.

Those double crossties and passing braces are odd for sure. Thanks for sharing!

Ken, how do I go about doing a full survey? I have read something about it on the Guild homepage, but I don't remember much about it. I am sure there is more to it than just taking a few measurements. The next time I go over there, I'd like to have a list of things to look for/photograph/measure. This barn needs some help.


Here is a picture of the outside, not much eave overhang.




Here is a broader shot of the roof framing. The beam on top of the tie beams supporting the rafters was added by the current owner.

[img][/img]http://davesdieselforum.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10001/normal_gf3.JPG


I don't know if all of the joinery was bored with a screw type bit or not, I will have to do some more investigating. If that type of bit is c.1800, does that correspond with what we are seeing in the frame?


Dave

Double DanG the edit button! We need SMF.

Hi Dave,

I will send you a typical barn survey report to give you some ideas however surveys could be categorised in order of preference as follows :-

1) Drive by - take photos from all available angles.

2) 1 hour survey - drive by plus measure key dimensions as follows :-

length (of/of)
breadth (of/of)
height (us sill/towp) + towp / peak
No of bays
length of each bay ref f/f
make general notes including type of frame construction.
take as many digi pics (1mb) as possible.

3 Detail survey

as per 1 & 2 plus measure everything possible including
typical timber sizes
typical joint types
typical peg sizes

Regards

Ken Hume